Automatic chute-closure.



D. C. BOYD.

AUTOMATIC CHUTE CLOSURE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 31, I915.

1,147,367. Patented July 20, 1915.

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DAVID C. BOYD, OF GAL-ION, OHIO, ASSIGNOR T0 GALIO N IRON WORKS & MFG.00;, OF GALION, OHIO,.ACORP,ORATION OF OHIO. 7

AUTOMATIC anew-mosses.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1,- DAVID C. BOYD, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Galion, in the county ofCrawford and State of Ohio, have invented certain new.

use in connection with means or apparatus for use in transferring stone,coal, or any other substances from bottom-discharge railway cars to anelevator or storage bin alongside of the track, in which apparatus theinclined trough or chute is located underneath the track toreceive thecontents of the hopper-bottom or similar cars, as required. v

As is obvious to those familiar' with the construction, maintenance andoperation of apparatus of this character, objections are found by therailroad and other officials when there is an open chute underneath thetrack, owing to the danger of employees or others stepping into theopening and sustaining injuries, and with a knowledge of theseconditions and objections, the primary object of my invention is toprovide simple, durable and efficient means for overcoming theseobjections by entirely removing their cause and by providing a chuteinwhich there is an automatic closing door, as hereinbefore set forth.

A further object of the invention is an improved construction andarrangement of trap door or closure which may be easily held in itsraised or closed position until a load has been deposited thereon andwhich can then be easily released whereby it will sink with its load andswing down to an inclined position where it will constitute the slideplate or false inclined bottom for the chute down which the load" willslide,zso. as to be discharged into the pit or abucket or similarreceptacle therein, and thence elevated to the storage bin or the like,the

closure subsequently automatically swinging. up to its raised and closedposition Specification of Letters Patent. v Patented July 29. 1915,Application filed March 31,1915. Serial 1%. 18,333.

through the instrumentality of a contractile spring or springs, arrangedas hereinaftermore fully specified. And the invention also aims togenerally improve devices of this class so asto render them more usefuland commercially desirable.

With these and other objects infiview, as

will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the inventionconsists in certain constructions, arrangements and combina' view of themeans which are in the present embodiment of the invention employed tomove the latch mechanism to its operative position and retain it in suchposition until released bythe operator. Fig. 4 is-a detail sectionalv1ew taken substantially on the line 4 l= of Fig. 2. Fig.5 is a detailtop plan view of the parts which are provided to return the trap door orclosure to its raised or closed position.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and designated in all of the views of theaccompanyingdrawing by like reference characters.

Referring to the drawing A designates a chute or inclined trough as awhole, the same embodying a main or stationary inclined bottom l andsides 2.

3 designates the track rails extending across the chute wherebyhopper-bottom or sheet metal and is'in the form'of a plate I l pivotallymounted at one end, as at 5, at the shallow end of the chute whereby itmay be swung-downwardlyto the inclined position illustrated by dottedlines in Fig. 1.

Near its relativelyfree 'end,the closure li's provided with "a keeper'fiwhich, in the icof present embodiment of the invention, is in the formof an angle bar extending transversely of the closure, as clearlyillustrated in the drawing, and designed for engagement by latches 7that are mounted upon a transversely extending shaft 8 journaled in anydesired way in the chute at or near the deeper end thereof. The latchesmay be returned to their operative positions and held in such positionsin any desired way. In the present instance, I have shown, as means forthis purpose, one end of the shaft 8 being turned at right angles to itsmain portion, as at 9, the laterally projecting portion of the shaftbeing connected to a contractile spring 1.0 which is in turn connectedto an angular bracket 11, which not only serves as a support for thespring, but as a stop to limit the movement of the shaft in onedirection.

Secured by rivets or any other desired way, to the lower face of theclosure 4 is a bar 12 provided with an angularly disposed depending end12' which is perforated to receive the threaded shank of a tie rod 13, anut screwing up on said rod so as to provide forthe adjustment thereof.This rod 13 is in the form of an eye bolt and is connected to one end ofa contractile spring 14, said spring extending longitudinally underneaththe lower face of the closure 4, and having its other end connected inany desired way, as by the eye, as shown, to a carriage 15 in which aroller 16 is journa-led, said roller contacting with and being adaptedto roll along the lower surface of the closure.

17 designates the actuating lever which is shown in the form of two barswhich are pivotally connected at their upper ends to the carriage 15 andthat are pivotally connected at their lower ends, as at 18, to a bracketor supporting plate 19 riveted or otherwise secured to the main orstationary bottom of the chute.

lhe latches 7 may be released from the closure 4 in any desired way,within the purview of my invention. For example, there may be aneccentric such as 20, engaging the laterally extending end 9 of theshaft 8 and carried by a transverse shaft 21 operated by the hand lever22 so that when said lever is raised the eccentric will turn the shaftor rod 8 about its longitudinal axis and effect the release of thelatches 7 from the closure 4.

From the foregoing description in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, the operation of my improved automatic trap door or chuteclosure will be apparent. In the practical use of the device, theclosure 4 is normally held in raised position by the latches 7. When acar is run upon the track 3, and deposits its load upon the closure 4while the closure is still in its raised position, the operator, byraising the lever 22 or otherwise, may move the latches 7 to release theclosure and the load upon the latter will cause the same to swing downto the dotted line position illustrated in Fig. 1, where it will becomethe slide plate or false bottom for the chute down which the load willpass. In this movement of the closure 4 it is evident that the roller 16will roll along the under surface of the closure 4 toward the pivotpoint 5 thereof, owing to the different arcs of movement of the closureand the ac tuating lever 17, and consequently the spring 14 will bestretched, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 by means of the dash and dotradius and are described thereon, the spring 14 being held under tensionwhile the load is moving ofl of the closure in its lowered and inclinedposition. When the closure is relieved of the weight of the stone or thelike, it is manifest that the spring 14 will be permitted to act andwill contract and, through the instrumentality of the lever 17 and itsconcomitant parts, will cause the return of the closure 4 to its upperand closed position where it will be automatically engaged by thelatches 7 and held in its closed position until the operation isrepeated.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a very simple and durableconstruction of automatic closing lid for track chutes and the like,which will entirely overcome the objection to the open chute and whichwill operate effectively to close the lid after the weight of the loadhas been relieved therefrom; and it will further be noted that the leveris fulcrumed at a point spaced from the pivot point of the lid orclosure 4 and projects from said fulcrum in a direction toward the pivotpoint and to a point between the pivot point and the point of connectionof the spring with the closure whereby when the lid or closure movesdown, the spring will at once be placed under tension and held undertension so as to promptly raise the closure again after the stone or thelike has passed oil of the closure.

It will also be seen that the parts are so arranged that when theclosure 4 is in its lowermost position, where it constitutes the slideplate or false bottom for the chute, down which the load will pass, thelever 17, sprin 14, and correlated parts are all house d underneath theclosure where they will be entirely out of the way of the load, andthat, as the lever 17 comprises two bars arranged in laterally spacedrelation to each other between which the carriage 15 is pivoted, thespring 14 will lie between said bars and in a plane co-incident with thelever, being contained within the same.

While the accompanying drawing illustrates what I believe to be thepreferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited thereto, but that various changes may be madein the details of construction, arrangement and proportions of the partswithout departing from the scope of the invention as defined in theappended claims.

What is claimed, is:

1. A chute, a closure pivotally connected at one end to the chute, alever fulcrumed within the chute at a point spaced from the pivot pointof the closure and extending from its fulcrum point toward said pivotpoint, and a contractile spring connected to the lever at the upper endthereof and to the closure between the end of the lever and therelatively free end of the closure.

2. A. chute, a closure pivotally connected at one end to the chute andmovable down into the same, a contractile spring connected to theclosure underneath the same, a roller bearing against the under surfaceof the closure and operatively connected to said spring, and a leverfulcrumed within the chute at one end and operatively connected to saidroller at its opposite end.

3. The combination with a closure, of a contractile springconnectedthereto at one end, a roller movable along one face of theclosure and operatively connected to the other end of the spring, and alever fulcrumed at a point distant from the closure in the closedposition of the latter, and operatively connected at one end to theroller.

4:. A chute, a closure pivotally connected thereto, a contractile springconnected to the closure and extending longitudinally thereof underneaththe same, a lever fulcrumed in the chute and extending upwardly thereintoward the pivot point of the closure, and an operative connectionbetween the lever and the spring.

5. The combination with a chute, of a closure pivotally connectedthereto at one end and movable down into the chute, releasable means forholding the closure in raised position, a contractile spring connectedto the closure and extending longitudinally underneath the same, a leverfulcrumed in the chute and extending from its fulcrum point upwardlytoward the pivotal point of the closure, a carriage connected to thespring, a roller journaled in the carriage, and an operative connectionbetween the roller carriage and the upper end of the lever.

6. A chute, a closure pivotally connected at one end to the chute,latches arranged to engage the relatively free end of the closure tohold the same in raised position, a bar connected to the closure on thelower face thereof and provided with a depending end,

chute and extending from its fulcrum point I upwardly toward the pivotpoint of the closure, a lever comprising laterally spaced bars, and acontractile spring connected to the closure and operatively connected tothe lever and designed to be received between said bars upon thedownward movement of the closure.

8. The combination with a chute, of a closure pivotally connectedthereto at one end and movable down into the chute, releasable means forholding the closure in raised position, a lever fulcrumed at one end inthe chute and comprising laterally spaced bars, a carriage pivotallymounted between said bars at the other ends thereof,-a roller journaledin said carriage, and a contractile spring connected at one end to thecarriage and at its other end to the closure.

9. The combination'with a chute, of a closure connected thereto andmovable down into the chute, releasable means for holding.

the closure in raised position, a lever fulcrumed at one end 1n thechute, and a contractile spring connected to the closure and.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, .D. 0.?

